Rifles - Forgotten Weapons

British 1942 Prototype Simplified…Enfield?

November 18, 2018 Ian McCollum 47

This rifle sold for $5,750 at Rock Island on December 1, 2018. In 1942, the British government instituted a development program to design a new simplified rifle to replace the No4 MkI Lee Enfield. The […]

British World War One SMLE Sniper Rifle

November 17, 2018 Ian McCollum 23

This rifle sold for $17,250 at Rock Island on December 1, 2018. The British started World War One without a sniper program, but were quick to develop one once faced with the threat of well-trained […]

FAL Paratrooper 50.63

November 16, 2018 Ian McCollum 62

This rifle sold for $7,475 at Rock Island on November 30, 2018. FN introduced the paratrooper folding-stock version of the FAL rifle in the early 1960s, and it became a very popular addition to their […]

Roth Haenel Model 1899 – The First Semiauto Sporting Rifle?

November 14, 2018 Ian McCollum 37

This rifle sold for $10,925 at Rock Island on December 2, 2018. While Karel Krnka and Georg Roth were in the process of developing the M1907 pistol, they diverted slightly to apply their patents to […]

MC58: A USMC Semiauto Trainer 22 for the M14

November 13, 2018 Ian McCollum 10

This rifle sold (for some reason) for $10,925 at Rock Island on December 2, 2018. When the USMC adopted the M1 Garand in 1942, they decided they would like to have a new semiautomatic training […]

Colombian 7.62mm NATO M1 Garand Conversion

November 11, 2018 Ian McCollum 22

This rifle sold for $2,070 at Rock Island on December 1, 2018. After World War Two, Colombia adopted the .30-06 cartridge as standard, purchasing a thousand .30-06 FN49 rifles and 19,000 surplus American M1 Garand […]

The Mini-14: A Cost-Effective Scaled-Down M14

November 10, 2018 Ian McCollum 56

Folding Stock rifle sold for $2,300 (the fixed-stock Texas Ranger one is selling in a future auction – sorry for the mistake! There is a folding stocked Ranger’s rifle in this auction, however). The Ruger […]

Karabiner-S: The East German Unicorn SKS

November 8, 2018 Ian McCollum 15

This rifle will be sold at Rock Island in their Spring 2019 Premiere auction – it was moved after this video was filmed. Sorry! One of the rarest patterns of the SKS is the East […]

Evolution of the Karabiner 98k, From Prewar to Kriegsmodell

November 7, 2018 Ian McCollum 27

These rifles sold at Rock Island on December 1 and 2, 2018: prewar S/42G ($3,450), 1944 bcd ($1,955), and 1945 byf (sold with a G43 for $4,025). The Mauser Karabiner 98k began production as an […]

Vickers-Berthier 1919 US Trials Rifle (Second Type)

November 6, 2018 Ian McCollum 14

This rifle sold for $31,625 at Rock Island on December 1, 2018. After designing the bolt action rifle that bears his name, Andre Berthier went on to experiment with self-loading designs. He developed a light […]